Call: Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility - Works - Zero Emissions

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport is the funding instrument to realise European transport infrastructure policy. It aims at supporting investments in building new transport infrastructure in Europe or rehabilitating and upgrading the existing one.

Trans-European Networks for Transport (TEN-T) policy objectives foresee:

• completion by 2030 of the Core Network, structured around nine multimodal Core Network Corridors.
• completion by 2050 of the Comprehensive Network in order to facilitate accessibility to all European regions

CEF Transport focuses on cross-border projects and projects aiming at removing bottlenecks or bridging missing links in various sections of the Core Network and on the Comprehensive Network (link), as well as for horizontal priorities such as traffic management systems.

CEF Transport also supports innovation in the transport system in order to improve the use of infrastructure, reduce the environmental impact of transport, enhance energy efficiency and increase safety.

Objective:

The objective is to support the deployment of Alternative Fuel supply infrastructure, contributing to decarbonising transport along the TEN-T network.

Scope:

The activities that can be funded under this call are relating to the deployment of Alternative fuel supply networks as defined in section 6.2.2 of the multiannual work programme.

The infrastructure shall be deployed in accordance with Directive 2014/94/EU and with Regulation 1315/2013 in line with the requirements listed in the call document:

Electricity recharging infrastructure supported in the form of a fixed co-funding rate

• Recharging stations supplying public transport in TEN-T Urban Nodes:
  • Infrastructure
    • Recharging points in bus depots
    • Opportunity-based charging devices
    • Related energy storage facilities
  • Location
    • Urban nodes, listed in Annex II.2 of the TEN-T Regulation.
• Recharging stations supplying inland waterway and maritime vessels
  • Infrastructure
    • On-shore Power Systems (OPS)
    • related necessary grid connection
    • including zero-emission electric inland and short sea shipping vessels if it is demonstrated that an initial number of vessels is needed to kick-start the use of the supported recharging infrastructure.
  • Location
    • in TEN-T inland waterway and maritime ports areas.

• only for fitting or retrofitting the main propulsion system (zero-emission);
• if for passenger transport, only for inland vessels longer than 20m with more than 12 passenger capacity;
• the eligible cost shall be limited to the difference in costs between a fossil-fuel vessel and the zero-emission vessel as regards the propulsion system, to be duly evidenced by the applicant;
• the deployment of electric powered vessels for waterborne transport can be for use in private fleets of ships and vessels, excluding cruises and Exclusive Day trip tourism vessels, on the condition that the vessels are operating under the law of a Member State of the EU and serving EU passenger and cargo destinations and/or other EU services (e.g. tugboat) predominantly for at least 5 years from the date they are put in operation.

• Recharging facilities supplying port vehicles and equipment
  • Infrastructure
    • Used for the performance of port services and operations
    • Including port vehicles and equipment
  • Location
    • in TEN-T inland waterway and maritime ports areas

• only for fitting or retrofitting the main propulsion system (zero-emission);
• the eligible cost shall be limited to the difference in costs between a fossil-fuel vehicle/equipment and the zero-emission vehicle/equipment as regards thepropulsion system, to be duly evidenced by the applicant.

• Electrification of airport ground operations

  • Infrastructure
    • Electricity supply to stationary aircrafts
    • Electric supply facilities for ground operation vehicles (excluding vehicles)
  • Location
    • in TEN-T airports as defined in Annex II.2 of the TEN-T Regulation

Hydrogen refuelling infrastructure supported in the form of a fixed co-funding rate

• Publicly accessible Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS) for light-duty vehicles and/or long haul heavy-duty vehicles
  • Infrastructure
    • HRS supplying liquid or gaseous hydrogen at pressure of 700 bar, or at a pressure of 350 bar and 700 bar; supply may be limited to 350 bar only in cases of locations serving mostly captive fleets accepting only 350 bar pressure.
  • Location
    • on TEN-T road network with an additional buffer distance (driving distance) of 10 km
    • in TEN-T urban nodes as defined in Annex II.2 of the TEN-T Regulation.
• HRS for public transport (e.g. bus depots)
  • Infrastructure
    • HRS supplying liquid or gaseous hydrogen at pressure of 700 bar, or at a pressure of 350 bar and 700 bar; supply may be limited to 350 bar only in cases of bus depots and other locations serving mostly captive fleets accepting only 350 bar pressure.
  • Location
    • on TEN-T road network with a buffer of 10 km driving distance for light-duty vehicles and/or long haul heavy-duty vehicles
    • in TEN-T urban nodes listed in Annex II.2 of the TEN-T Regulation.
• HRS supplying inland waterway and maritime vessels
  • Infrastructure
    • HRS supplying liquid or gaseous hydrogen at pressure of 350 bar and/or 700 bar
    • including inland and short sea shipping vessels propelled by hydrogen or hydrogen carrier fuels (e.g. ammonia) if it is demonstrated that an initial number of vessels is needed to kick-start the use of the supported refuelling infrastructure
  • Location
    • in TEN-T inland waterway and maritime ports areas

• only for fitting or retrofitting the main propulsion system;
• if for passenger transport, only for inland vessels longer than 20m with more than 12 passenger capacity;
• the eligible cost shall be limited to the difference in costs between a fossil-fuel vessel and the zero-emission vessel as regards the propulsion system, to be duly evidenced by the applicant;
• the deployment of hydrogen/fuel-cell powered vessels for waterborne transport can be for use in private fleets of ships and vessels, excluding cruises and Exclusive Day trip tourism vessels, on the condition that the vessels are operating under the law of a Member State of the EU and serving EU passenger and cargo destinations and/or other EU services (e.g. tugboat) predominantly for at least 5 years from the date they are put in operation;
• additionally to the pure hydrogen supply formats, for maritime applications, hydrogen carrier fuels (e.g. ammonia) are admitted.

• Refuelling facilities supplying port vehicles and equipment
  • Infrastructure
    • Used for the performance of port services and operations
    • including port vehicles and equipment
  • Location
    • in TEN-T inland waterway and maritime ports areas

• only for fitting or retrofitting the main propulsion system (zero-emission);
• the eligible cost shall be limited to the difference in costs between a fossil-fuel vehicle/equipment and the zero-emission vehicle/equipment as regards the propulsion system, to be duly evidenced by the applicant.

• Refuelling stations supplying railways:
  • on sections of the TEN-T rail network for which a derogation from the electrification requirement has been granted in line with Article 12(3) or 39(3) of the TEN-T Regulation;
  • on isolated networks as defined in Article 3 (u) of the TEN-T Regulation;
  • in terminals for refuelling shunting locomotives.

• one or more EU Member States 
• by international organisations, joint undertakings, or public or private undertakings or bodies established in Member States  (with the agreement of the Member States concerned).

In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:

• be legal entities (public or private bodies)
• be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
  • third countries associated to the CEF

Specific cases:

• Entities from other countries are exceptionally eligible for projects of common interest in the field of transport, energyand digital and for cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy, if the granting authority considers their participation essential for the implementation of the action.
• Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legalpersonality separate from that of the natural person).
• International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
• Entities without legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guaranteesfor the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
• EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.

Proposal page limits and layout:

• Part A to be filled in directly online  (administrative information, summarised budget, call-specific questions, etc.)
• Part B to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system
• mandatory annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded):
  • detailed budget table per WP (template available in the Submission System)
  • activity reports of last year
  • list of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years) (template available in Part B)
  • timetable/Gantt chart
  • agreement by the concerned Member States (letters of support)
  • environmental compliance file
  • financing approval letter (consisting of a transmittal letter certifying the approval of the financing by the financial institution’s governing bodies in line with its own rules, policies and procedures, and the project summary sheet)
  • simplified cost-benefit analysis (CBA) if the project is supported with financing of a non-Implementing Partner financial institution.

The available call budget for Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility – Cohesion envelope (CEF-T-2021-AFIFCOEN) is EUR 1,200,000,000. (EUR 400,000,000 per year)

In order to ensure efficiency in EU funding interventions, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications for projects with a total requested EU contribution to the eligible costs of no less than EUR 1,000,000. Where possible, related projects should be grouped and submitted as one proposal.